A Day in the Life of Our Fifth Graders

Co-Teaching• We have the unique opportunity to share your child’s 5th

grade education. Our partnership affords our students the benefits of our expertise, our dedication and our passion for teaching. We are privileged to have you, their parents, as

the single most important members of their “team.” • Thank you for supporting them this evening!

Writing Workshop• Our day begins by “getting out the

junk” in our “Writer’s Notebooks.” We gain inspiration for our “Daily Page” writing from individual events, pictures and questions we have in our own lives. By writing each day, we build stamina and purposefully practice our writing skills!

Our “Writer’s Notebooks”

Writing Workshop• Our “Writing Workshop”

continues with a mini lesson pertaining to the genre we are studying. The focus of fifth grade writing is the narrative, persuasive and informative genres. Our management board keeps track of individual student progress and small group needs.

Writing Workshop• Small groups gather to critique written pieces. Student

reflect on positive and negative aspects of published works and apply their findings to their own writing.

Encore Classes!• After “Writing Workshop” we are off to

our special area classes. These include library, art, gym, computer and music.

Math Workshop• Students step into the role of the

teacher to begin our Math Workshop each day. During the “Student Led Review” time, peers use their knowledge of mastered skills to provide a review for the class. This is a great way to reinforce important concepts needed for our challenging curriculum!

Student Led Math Review

Math Workshop• After the “Student Led

Review,” students travel in small, flexible groups through the workshop. Each group has the opportunity to work with a teacher, complete independent practice and engage in a math game. Members of our support staff are integral to the success of our workshop.

LUNCH!• Our fifth graders have the

privilege of enjoying their lunch with friends at any table in their section!

Fresh air, exercise, socialization…RECESS!

READ, READ, READING WORKSOP!

• In fifth grade, we are firmly rooted in the connection between reading and successful futures! We read each and every day. We read a variety of genres and authors. We read for pleasure, for implementation of reading strategies and, most importantly, we read to become “lifelong readers!”

• YES…WE LOVE READING!

Independent Reading Time• During

Independent Reading Time, students read

either a book of their choice or their Literature Circle novels. Carving out

reading time every day provides

exposure to rich literature while helping us build

stamina!

Book Notes and Grammar Practice Sentences

• Following Independent Reading Time, students complete a short summary of the pages they read. They record their summaries in their Reading Workshop binders and then “share out” with their tablemates. This often inspires others to want to read the books we are reading! Grammar practice sentences help us recognize “pitfalls” in writing which we then apply to our own pieces.

Novels & Literature Circles• To begin the year, we read an all-class novel,

Island of the Blue Dolphins. Throughout the reading of this historical fiction classic, routines are established, reading strategies taught and focus on metacognition begins! Once complete, students will continue practicing and expanding their reading comprehension through Literature Circles. To ignite our interest in reading, we kicked-off the year with an “Island Cruise!” Be sure to ask your “crewmate” all about their adventure!

Island Cruise

Reading Workshop• Our Reading Workshop consists of leveled small

groups working through differentiated tasks to practice literary skills. Students utilize a “Literacy Ticket” as a management tool to record completed requirements and monitor choices. Reading Workshop is a vehicle for individualized purposeful practice, interactions with embedded technology and peer collaboration.

Science• This year, students in fifth grade will study

a collaborative unit on weather and oceans.

Social Studies• Students in fifth grade this year will have

the opportunity to work through the newly adopted “Social Studies Alive!” curriculum. This program is a fully interactive, hands-on and technology based approach to learning about our past.

• We hope this presentation has provided a small “glimpse” into life in fifth grade. Each

day is filled with learning, discovery and growth. The potential that lies in every one of

“our” students is truly endless and we welcome the opportunity to foster it

throughout this year! • Mrs. Parker & Mrs. Gillespie

• “Education is not the filling of a pail,but the lighting of a fire.

“William Butler Yeats

Till tomorrow… when we begin again!